The Drum of War

The government owned media is beating the drum of war again. This time, the direct insult is on Syria while preparation is made for Iran to be the next in line. The history of the control of media by the US and its allies goes back to the begining of the union. However, it has never been in such total domination. From the time when people of like-minded in the Right used their money and their influence to control the media through takeovers and acquisitions, a monopoly of far Right controlled media was established. Media became the mouthpiece of conservative ideology, and Western governments banned together behind conservative agenda and established their policies on such ideologies. Taking over worldwide trade through IMF and World Bank has gained many advantages, however direct attack on other countries is the next and vital step. No one can forget the big lie of “Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction”. After Iraq attacked Kuwait, a weeping innocent little girl, went on national TV and horrified everyone by a disclosure that she witnessed Kuwaiti babies taken from incubators and thrown away by Iraqi soldiers with the intention of stealing those machines. It was discovered later that the girl was the daughter of the Kuwait consulate in Washington, and the whole story was a big fabrication. Bush’s lies about Saddam, Osama Bin Laden, and Taliban leaders sound very much like every other US president’s, who fabricated (or in some instances created) a story in order to plan a war, from the war in Hawaii and Philippines, to the war in Libya. Syria is next in line to be dismantled as a country and to be turned into rubbles by American and NATO soldiers, like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. The citizens who do not allege their alliances to the super powers will be murdered and urinated on by American and NATO soldiers. Unfortunately, in spite of all the disclosures, majority of Westerners are still fooled by their leaders, into wars. Notwithstanding, many books have been written on the subject; from Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent” to Parenti’s “Monopoly Media Manipulation” to Bagdikian’s “Media Monopoly”, and the one in favor of the media monopoly “The Media Monopoly Myth- How new competition is expanding our sources of information and entertainment” by Benjamin M. Compaine! But the saga of war mongers continues.

Everyday, we are presented on the news of the number of people killed in Syria by government forces, followed by some interviews with the victims or their relatives, followed by a pundit exploring the brutal dictator’s cling into power and the vast number of opposition groups. The conclusion is made by some government officials in condemnation of Assad and finding a humanitarian resolution to get him out of the power. The story and its intrigues is so rampant that even some progressive news media such as “Democracy Now” follow this routine. The news media is void of any information about daily killing and torture in Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Israel, and many other countries where dictators favorable to the US and its allies are operating. There are daily demonstrations in Egypt against the military dictatorship supported by the US, and number of fatalities in each of these demonstrations. We do not hear about that in general media. Even the brutal police attacks on popular “Occupy” demonstrations in different US cities were not reflected on the media. When someone of a minority group seeks a benefit because of his or her race, it is said that he or she is using “the race card”. Those making policies in the government, whose aims are to benefit the rich, have figured this out and by installing Obama into power, used “the race card” to their advantage. Obama has enriched the wealthy as no one before him could do. During his administration, the military budget has reached its highest, the poverty and the disparity between the rich and the poor has increased, and more independent nations have been attacked by the US and its allies. First Amendment has never been attacked as much as in the past four years. Anti-immigration laws have been expanded, and interestingly enough, the degree of racism has increased, in spite of an African American family living in the White House.

There are several theories as to the reason for expansion of the West into the Middle East. One theory suggested (after the collapse of the Soviet Union) the US to take over all the countries sympathized or friendly towards the old Soviet Union, such as China, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Iran. All of these, and a few other countries should be taken over before Russia, or any other country for that matter, becomes a super power. The other theory was called “The Clean Break” that envisioned a greater Israel by the aid of the US in attacking countries (Arab and non-Arab) in the Middle East in favor of an Israeli expansion. Another theory targets Russia and China, two great super powers after the US, as the ultimate goal. This is of course a precursor to a world war, and may be a nuclear winter. Any of these theories pursues the idea of dominating, or at least destabilizing countries with dictators not favored by the US, such as Syria and Iran. Washington learned from what is called “Arab Spring” that in order to neutralize any opposition in countries controlled by a dictator, US and its allies should find hot spots and infiltrate in, and control the opposition, as it was done in Libya. This will prevent a democratic government to be rooted in such countries. Of course, in a country like Iran, any act of war is welcomed by a government that is so weak and unpopular among its own longtime supporters, which its structure is beginning to crack. At the same time, the opposition and the Green movement is getting momentum. Ahmadi Nejad and other leaders of the government make a nuclear comment or a threat against the West in a daily basis, in order to provoke the West and stir the situation. An attack on Iran is a godsend miracle for the Iranian government, and a disaster for the opposition and Iranian people.